


The Moon's Curse

by OpulenceInLife



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Pirate, M/M, Multi, mermaid au, siren au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2018-12-24 02:26:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12003015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpulenceInLife/pseuds/OpulenceInLife
Summary: Mermaids. The beautiful folk who live beneath the sea. They love to help injured sea creatures and guide sailors towards untold riches. Meeting a mermaid is incredible luck, and sailors love to brag about their experiences and tell everyone and anyone.They rarely get the chance.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by luty_chan 's art of mermaid klance holding Shiro's hand

The glaring sun sparkled against the ocean waters, throwing light across the waves as seagulls cawed overhead. The man grinned to himself, taking in a deep breath of salty ocean air. He loved the sea more than anything. A massive environment that no human could hope to conquer, especially not with the already dominant species ruling the seas. Merfolk. Beautiful creatures, gorgeous people with the scales, tails, and fins of fish. They were quite benevolent, always helping travellers when they were able and protecting sea life and humans. A few were circling the man’s small vessel now, coming above the water to peer at him curiously, fascinated by him. They told him of a cove where there were many treasures below the waters and lead him there, and the man couldn’t believe his luck to find riches with the help of mermaids. They came to the cove, so the man and the mermaids dove for treasure, bringing it back to the ship. 

Around dusk, the man climbed aboard his ship and turned to thank the mermaids for all their help, but they had all disappeared. He frowned slightly, a bit sad that he was unable to say goodbye, but he headed on his way back to his home. Then, he saw glowing spots underneath the water on the sides of his ship. He frowned slightly, knowing that there shouldn’t be any glowing creatures in these parts. He leaned over the starboard side, attempting the scrutinize the water when one of the mermaids came up. She was so close. He could lean forward a few inches and touch his nose to hers. And then she smiled. Her teeth were wickedly sharp and messy with blood. Her mouth smelled like death. The man tried to draw back, but she already had his arm in her grip. He shouted something unintelligible and was pulled under the water. There were a series of splashes, growls, and screams, then a patch of blood forming just beneath the surface.


	2. Morning

“Captain!” The crewmember in the crow’s nest called down, drawing her attention. “What is it, Pidge?” She called back, swooping her naturally stark white hair back from her dark face. “Miss Allura, I think they’re pointing to that.” Her first mate, Coran, said, pointing to the remains of a capsized boat in the water ahead. She turned the ship just enough to avoid crashing and ordered Hunk to halt the engines. “Shiro!” 

“Yes Captain!” The young man called as he broke out of his reverie from the sight of the destroyed vessel. “I need you to scavenge that shipwreck and find any survivors. “Or treasures!” Coran offered, unhelpfully. “Sure, treasures.” Shiro nodded and went to get his wetsuit and harpoon gun. He arrived back on deck and alerted the captain to his departure and said his goodbyes to his small but happy crew. He dove into the water and swam towards the wreck, eyes widening at the extent of the wreckage. 

There was a hole in the side that looked as if a giant sea monster had taken a bite out of the ship. The mast was snapped in half and the sail was shredded to pieces and stained with blood. The thought made him sick of whatever attacked the ship attacking him, but he trekked on through the wreckage and hoping that someone survived. 

After an hour of searching, he should have given up. He should have felt the storm coming. He should have felt the water start to get choppy and angry as it tossed around pieces of the ship and Shiro. He definitely felt the wood beam landing on his head with a sickening thud. He groaned and fell into the water, blinking blearily at the rippling surface of the water. As his vision started to fade, blue and red lights floated around him, bobbing like fanciful fairies. He reached out for them, childishly waving and reaching in his state of delirium and pain. He finally grabbed something silky, and the object came into view. A boy? A beautiful boy. With deep blue eyes that glowed in the dark of the sea, the silky brown hair that Shiro grasped between nearly numb fingers. “You’re safe with us.” The boy smiled, fins unfolding from behind his ears as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Shiro’s, who immediately passed out.

Shiro woke up to a crab scuttling across his chest, which made him scream and swat it away. “What the hell?” He whispered, gazing upon his surroundings. He was laying in the sand on an islet, with a small grove of trees, a large bush, and a small lagoon lapping at his feet. “What happened to me?” He questioned, rubbing his head in an attempt to quell his headache when he heard two voices squabbling quietly. “He’s probably really hurt! We have to find some humans who can help him!” One voice argued. “But what if he wakes up and nobody’s here! Wouldn’t that scare him?” A vaguely familiar voice asked. “How am I supposed to know that, Lance?” The other voice, annoyed, responded. “Well I suppose you wouldn’t, Keith, you’ve never even seen a human in daylight before!” Daylight? And why are they talking like they’re not human? Shiro shook the questions from his head before sitting up and trying to push himself to stand up. “Hello?” He called, cursing the scratch in his throat. “He’s awake! Don’t scare him,” Lance scolded. “Where are you? Who are you?” 

“Mermaids, of course!” Shiro jumped when Lance popped up behind an outcropping of rocks. He yelped and stumbled back, scrabbling at the sand to get farther from the water. “What’s the matter, human?” Keith asked as he followed Lance to the edge of the water. “What are you scared of?”  
“You’re mermaids? Really? You’re real?” Shiro’s head was spinning. “Well of course we are. We aren’t selkies, those live in the North Sea.” Lance tittered, leaning up on the sand as he leaned his head on a scaley fist with long blue nails. “You’re a human, right?” Keith asked curiously with large red eyes as he leaned onto Lance’s shoulder. “I… I am a human. My name is Shiro.”  
“Sheeeero.” Lance drawled before giggling, “I like it. I’m Lance”  
“Me too! I’m Keith.” Keith nodded. “Oh, how are you feeling? Do you need a human healer?” Shiro smiled a tiny bit at that, “No, I think I’ll be okay. It’s just a headache.”  
“Do you need anything?” Shiro bit his lip before feeling how dry his throat felt. “Actually, do you know where some freshwater is?”  
“Yes! Follow us!” Lance squealed before swimming along the shoreline. 

Shiro pushed himself up and stumbled after him, while Keith stayed by his side in the water, “So what’s it like being a human?” Shiro bit his lip and rubbed his cheek, “Kind of boring. We can’t really go anywhere unless we work really hard. LIke travelling the ocean? That takes big boats and lots of people to run them.” Keith cocked his head innocently with a twitch of his red fins. “What’s a boat?”  
“Those big wooden things that humans ride around in on the ocean.” Keith nodded, “Oh! We rescued you from one of the broken ones. What were you doing there?” Shiro tried to recall what Keith was telling him, but he couldn’t seem to remember anything but Lance assuring his safety. “I don’t remember. Maybe my headache is worse than I thought.” He bit his lip out of worry. “We’ll make you feel better, promise.” Keith offered a sweet smile, that Shiro couldn’t help but return. “You guys are slow! Hurry up!” Lance called by the entrance of a cave before diving inside to the water. “We better hurry up before my mate yells at us.” Keith nearly giggled before swimming ahead as well. “Mate?” Shiro asked himself, before wondering why he was disappointed to discover they were romantically involved.

Upon reaching the cave, Shiro slid into the water and paddled after them. While he knew he had some affiliation with water previously, he wasn’t the best swimmer with the strange wooden arm he had. But he didn’t think he had to worry about it rotting. “Where’s the fresh water?” Lance popped up beside him, “There’s a spring just around the corner. The water there is very pure.” Shiro calmed his startled heart, “Ah, okay, thank you so much, Lance.” Lance smiled, wrapping one arm around his and starting to pull him closer faster. Shiro's heart jumped in his chest as it'd been an awfully long time since he was this close to a person (creature?) he found attractive. But Lance was Keith's mate. Shiro didn't want to be a homewrecker, especially not between two handsome mermen. He let Lance tug him along, trying to think back and remember anything important besides Lance’s face appearing to him in murky darkness and his soothing voice assuring safety. “Lance, why did you save me?”  
“It’s in our nature. The sunlight feels us with love and happiness, and a desperation to be benefactors to anyone in our domain.” He said with the lilt of someone reciting something that’s been drilled into their head.

Sunlight?


	3. Noon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a bit short because i just had to end it where it ends

 

“Woah.” Shiro whispered, staring at the spring. It was beautiful, with pure water reflecting the sunlight streaming in through a hole. The light bounced around the cave, making the stones at the bottom of the pool shine brightly and cover the cave in jewel tones. “This is amazing! How did you find this?” He inquired, heaving himself out of the water onto the small sandy beach by this oasis of freshwater in the encompassing saltwater ocean. Lance and Keith leaned their elbows onto the sand on either side of him. Keith shrugged, “The ocean told us it was here.” He smiled, “Don’t worry, the ocean likes you.” 

“The ocean loves humans. It likes when you guys ride across it and discover islands from the Great Mother. It loves you. More than it loves its children.” Lance whispered as if afraid the gently lapping waves would hear him. “You guys?” Shiro asked the pair, watching as each got lost in their staring contest against the waves.

 

Keith startled and looked up at him with wide red eyes, “Oh, sorry, we wandered.” He nudged Lance before leaning onto the tan boy’s shoulder. Lance smiled and nodded, “Mhm, sorry. So what shall you do now?” He asked Shiro as the human took gulps of water from his cupped hands. “Maybe find a place to rest. I don’t know who I was with before I ended up here or if they’ll come find me.” He shrugged slightly. Keith’s fins raised in something akin to alarm, “You’ll have to find a place inland.” Shiro frowned, “Shouldn’t I be close to the shore so I can be near you two?” He felt his heart twist at the thought of not being able to reach the two mermen. Lance pouted too, “Yeah, I want you close to us too.” Keith pinched him underneath the water and gave him a pointed look. Lance winced and nodded, “But Keith is right, being inland is safer because the water may wash away your shelter. So please. Go inland.” He urged, sounding desperate. 

 

Shiro cocked his head, “Seriously, what’s wrong? You two almost seem afraid. Is there something in the water?” Keith opened his mouth and then visibly flinched. Shiro couldn’t see, but Lance watched in horror as a small line of scratches stitched themselves across Keith’s hips as the water punished him for trying to speak out. “Never mind.” Lance said, a hand going down to soothe his mate’s skin. “We’ll help you build a shelter anyway we can.” He smiled helpfully. Shiro grinned brightly, “You guys are quite wonderful. Kind, beautiful, and funny. Almost ethereal.” He whispered, entraced the way Lance’s gossamer fins drifted in the gentle current. Lance blushed a light blue and looked down from his gaze, “So, um, shelter. Go find a good place and we’ll catch food for you!” He smiled softly, before gently tugging Keith to the edge of the freshwater pond. He waved to Shiro before tugging his mate below the water and swimming out to the sea. Keith rubbed at his eyes, small tears joining the surrounding water. “We’re gonna hurt him.” He moaned, clearly as upset about it as Lance was. “We’ll do anything we can to protect him from us.” Lance said firmly, biting his lip lightly, but he was worried too, that they would end up killing the handsome human.

 

After all, it was in their nature.

  
  
  
  
  



	4. Dusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's getting late.

Shiro stared down at the fine sand beneath him. He was struggling to remember anything, anything at all. He could only see Lance, beautiful, ethereal Lance floating just out of reach. “You’re safe with us.” Lance’s smooth voice told him over and over again as Shiro started slipping. He grasped at the sand, his heartbeat picking up. His breathing got shorter. Shorter. Short. He started to feel faint, unable to focus on anything. The only thing he could see were those hauntingly, startlingly blue eyes. He felt sick. He felt…

A hand. A hand gently placed on his knee. He bit his lip, looking down to focus on the hand. Sand slipped through his fingers as reached clumsily for that hand. He focused on the red scales catching the soft light, the red claws that softly stroked his skin. He looked up and saw red eyes. Red, worried, gentle eyes. “Keith.” He croaked out. Everything started to come back into focus. He heard Keith’s soft voice coaxing him into safety, a sweet lull he could focus on. “There you are. You’re alright. I’m right here, Shiro.” He cooed quietly, his free hand reaching up to gently stroke Shiro’s hair. Finally, Shiro relaxed, all the tension leaking out of him. Shiro looked up at him, taking a deep breath. “Thank you.” He said, a bit ashamed of having a breakdown like that. “It’s perfectly fine. You’re perfectly fine. Come on, let’s go get supplies for your shelter.” He smiled up at him. Shiro nodded and slid into the water beside him, treading water in the sudden pleasant silence. “I, uh, thanks.” He repeated, before wrapping his arms around Keith, “Is this fine?” Keith made a soft clicking noise in the back of his throat before settling his arms around him, “Yeah, it’s fine Shiro.” He ran his hand through the other’s hair, claws gently scraping against his scalp. “Lance is waiting on us.” He cooed gently. “Let’s go.”

Shiro was gently urged onshore by Lance and Keith. “Go find a place to sleep and collect some… trees? The stuff the boats are made of!” Lance grinned enthusiastically. Shiro chuckled, “Wood, Lance.” Lance cocked his head, “Would I what?” Keith snorted, “Let's go catch some fish and such.” He took Lance by the hand and led him below the waters. Shiro watched their fins trail after them, catching the light and tossing it around. He looked up at the sun and noted how it was close to the horizon. He'd have to work fast. 

He frowned and turned inward, collecting branches and leaves, hoping he could build some sort of shelter to protect him from the elements. He found a cave with a collection of vines and decided to set up camp there, making a small fire pit and a place for him to sleep. He looked to the sky and saw the sun dipping into the water on the horizon, spreading beautiful colors across the sky. In the orange light, he walked back to the beach, only to find a pile of fish wrapped in a makeshift net. “Lance? Keith?” He called out for them, a bit worried. “Where are you guys?” He asked, picking up the fish and inspecting them. “I should at least share wit them. I'll take some back, and then come back to cook some.” He murmured aloud before trekking back to his camp.

By the time he returned to the beach, the sun had almost fallen below the horizon entirely. The sky was turning purple, pinpricks of light starting to shine as the canvas of night fell over the land. Shiro sat at the shore, cooking a few fish on sticks by a fire he'd made. He looked out to the water, hoping to see the mermen again. He hoped nothing had happened to them. Shiro just couldn't stop thinking of them. He couldn't get Lance's beautiful smile and Keith’s silky hair out of his head. They were practically invading all his thoughts. 

Finally the sun disappeared from the sky, giving way to the darkness. Shiro looked up at the moon and smiled a bit at her full face. “What a beautiful moon.” He commented and he could almost see her wink at him. He turned back to his fire, poking the coals before looking out to see. In the distance he saw lights dancing in the water far off from the islet, blinking red and blue sporadically. Suddenly, they disappeared. Suddenly, they reappeared at the far edge of the lagoon. Two figures rose from the water, creeping steadily towards Shiro. Shiro couldn't make out their faces, the one shrouded in red light had hair like black straw that covered its face and the one swaying to the pulse of the blue lights was looking to the sky. Then the moonlight cast over them. It was Lance and Keith!

They were splattered with blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yikes

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me on tumblr  
> @quitethemessbian


End file.
